Weekly Torah Portion, Stories, News about Judaism/Israeli subjects
and a Good Shabbos Story

Friday, November 14, 2008

Attention due to personal chores, last week's blog on part 2 of creation and 3 Good Shabbos stories was published only a few hours before this so please see the previous post.

Natan ben Masha needs prayers.

A note on a serious turn in the condition of Eliyahu ben Rosa:On 10/27 my general practitioner admitted me to hospital, after telling him about a bad angina attack few days earlier, and the vertigo I experience the day before. The cardiologist told me that from MRA that the blockages returned and the blood flow into my heart is dangerously restricted. The MRA and echogram reveled that my right Carotid artery has a blockage of about 95 percent. The cardiologist described the passage way to my brain as a thread. Dr. Weinstein (cardiologist) and Dr. Cohen (vascular surgeon) consulted. Weinstein was perturbed after the cauterization, that I should have open surgery on my Carotid, and suggested to place a stem in the main central artery, at the same time his colleague would check the artery with view of placing a stem. Cohen told me that, in my case, it would be a better solution. He advised me the that Weinstein's colleague (Vivek) is well known for his work.

My appointment with Vivek is on Fri 14, and if he finally decides to place the stem, the procedure would probably be the Tuesday 18. Weinstein sent me home to rest and give the pneumonia a chance to clear.

Although my breathing, and blood flow to the heart have increased my stamina, my body feels a shmatter, weak, and my brain is not as sharp as I would like it to be.

Regarding the creative right of the Rabbis to make a Gezara (ordaining or proclaiming)

Dear C,A Rabbinical Gezara can be made.Who said that? And where is that in the bible, I cant find this?It is in Deut. 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that thou should say: 'Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?' 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou should say: 'Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?' 14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou may do it.This gives the Rabbis the power to regulate Torah. Another point is in Chapter 12 of Exodus forward where the Rabbis were given the right to determine the month even if they are off.

Chapter 2 of Rosh Hashanah:MISHNA: The chief of the Beth Din then said: "It (the new moon) is consecrated," and all the people repeated after him: "It is consecrated; it is consecrated." Whether the new moon was seen at its proper time (after twenty-nine days) or not, they used to consecrate it. R. Elazar b. Zadok said: If it had not been seen at its proper time it was not consecrated, because it had already been consecrated in heaven (i.e., of itself).Shown below another example with some oral tradition from Sinai:

MISHNA: It happened once that two witnesses came and said: We saw the moon in the eastern part of the heavens in the morning, and in the western part in the evening. R. Jo'hanan b. Nouri declared them to be false witnesses; but when they came to Yamnia, Rabbon Gamaliel received their evidence as valid. (On another occasion) two other witnesses came and said: We saw the moon on its proper day, but could not see it on the next evening of the intercalary day. R. Gamaliel accepted their testimony, but R. Dosa b. Harkhenas said: They are false witnesses; for how can they testify of a woman being delivered (on a certain day) when on the next day she appears to be pregnant? Then R. Jehoshua said unto him: I approve your opinion. Upon this R. Gamaliel sent him (R. Jehoshua) word, saying: "I order thee to appear before me on the Day of Atonement, according to your computation, with your staff and with money." R. Aqiba went to him (R. Jehoshua) and found him grieving. He then said to him: I can prove that all which R. Gamaliel has done is proper, for it is said: "These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which ye shall proclaim," either at their proper time, or not at their proper time, only their convocations are to be considered as holy festivals. When he (R. Jehoshua) came to R. Dosa b. Harkhinas, the latter told him: "If we are to reinvestigate the decisions of the Beth Din of R. Gamaliel, we must also reinvestigate the decisions of all the tribunals of justice which have existed from the time of Moses till the present day; for it is said [Ex. xxiv. 9] Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders went up (to the Mount)." Why were not the names of the elders also specified? To teach us that every three men in Israel that form a Beth Din are to be respected in an equal degree with the Beth Din of Moses. Then did R. Jehoshua take his staff and money in his hand, and went to Yamnia, to R. Gamaliel, on the very day on which the Day of Atonement would have been according to his computation, when R. Gamaliel arose and kissed him on the forehead, saying: "Enter in peace, my master and disciple! My master--in knowledge; my disciple--since thou didst obey my injunction."GEMARA: We have learned in a Boraitha that R. Gamaliel said to the sages: "Thus it has been handed down to me from the house of my grandfather (Zamalill the elder) that sometimes the new moon appears elongated and sometimes diminished. R. Hyya saw the old moon yet on the morning of the twenty-ninth day, and threw clods of earth at it, saying: 'We should consecrate thee in the evening, and thou art seen now? Go, hide thyself!'"

Regarding Creation: Rabbi Ed Davis Shlita wrote that according to his understanding of Rashi on the third day, the trees and plants only had their seeds created in the ground and only after the sun and the moon came into being did they sprout forth. I could not see that interpretation of the Rashi. Under Chabad.org/parshah/ I could not find in Chapter 1 wording in the English translation that would influence me into thinking this way unless it was in Chapter 2 or 3.

> the Darwin Theory of the Origin of the Species,Shalom, I don't remember Darwin stating the origin of **life**. I remember the origin of the *species*. There is a difference. True story:Blackbirds are, well, black. But they would rather be pretty. (I won't explain here). Then one day (in Michigan? at least that's where I was) there were "redwing" blackbirds. Actually, there is one feather which is red, and it's buried on the wing -- a small finger-nail worth of red can be seen. These redwing black birds could mate with any blackbird. Then when there were more than none of the redwings around, the redwings would only mate with other redwings. (After all, they were beautiful whereas the usual blackbirds were not.) So far, ethnologists consider them the same species, but we can see the handwriting on the wall. It's only a matter of time for genetic drift and the creation of a new species. This is the creation of a new species -- right before my eyes (so to speak).As for creation of life, well this speciation thing doesn't do it. We can conjecture, cough, tell wild stories, but we can't create life (from not-life). We can watch life change. Buy we cannot create life. That's what Darwin did -- watch life change.Shalom, laiib HaCohain

Parshiyos Noach, Lech Lecha, Vayera

Noach was a Tzaddik in ‘his generation’ leaves a lot of questions among our Sages of blessed memory. The first question being a Tzaddik only in his generation? Or not? For if he was a Tzaddik when the generation was free murder, free thievery, free idol worship and free sex with anyone or anything (in a few hundred years one could try anything and everything if he were wicked). Noah was to them a big bore only one wife, straight as a ruler in the market place, loyal only to G-D not a bunch of idols or gurus.

The flood occurred when Noach was 600 in the year 1656 and Noach lived until the age of 950 or 2006. Avram was born in 1948 and was 48 when the Tower of Bavel was destroyed. However, he, Shem, Ever, Noach did not participate in the building of the Tower so they kept the original language from Adam. Example Adam was created out of the Adamah. From man = Ish was created woman = Ishah. I could go on with some other examples.

The original language according to those in the know was in the area around Anatolia Turkey for all the languages of Europe through India. It just happens that the city of Haran where Avram fled is in the eastern side of Turkey. Thus our modern languages came from the roots in this area. Now there are languages of the Far East and Africa on still. I assume only that these languages split off or were derived also from Bavel but a different group of people or race of people. Rashi explains the origins for the African Race from the son of Ham.

After the split of the languages we have our first indication of wars and conquests taking place.

Rashi: 12:6. And Abram passed through the land. He entered therein. until the place of Shechem. to pray for Jacob’s sons when they would come to wage war in Shechem. [from unknown midrashic source, also quoted by Redak] until the plain of Moreh. That is Shechem. He showed him Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, where Israel accepted the oath of the Torah. [from aforementioned midrashic source] and the Canaanites were then in the land. He [the Canaanite] was gradually conquering the Land of Israel from the descendants of Shem, for it fell in Shem’s share when Noah apportioned the land to his sons, as it is said (below 14: 18):“And Malchizedek the king of Salem.” Therefore, (below verse 7): And the Lord said to Abram: To your seed will I give this land. I am destined to restore it to your children, who are of the descendants of Shem. [from Sifra, end of Kedoshim]

After this war was a Gog and Magog type of war of the 4 kings vs the 5 kings. This fight is an indication of a war with miracles that occurred for the king of Sodom who was buried and recovered alive and then Avram and Eliezer or perhaps only 318 men conquering the enemy causing countless thousands of soldiers to flee and abandon camp. This same type of miracle occurred with the 4 Lepers in the days of the Prophet Elisha and in the future war we will seem similar fleeing.

The Parsha shows Avram make a bris between the split pieces and being promised that he is above Astrology by a name change, G-D allows Avraham and Sarah to have children while Avram and Sarai could not. Still after many years, Sarah stopped having her period so she gave Avraham her maid servant on the chance that the maid could give birth and Sarah would raise the boy. However, Yishmael was not a child who Sarah could influence. At the end of the Parsha both Avraham and Yishmael make a bris milah and Avraham was recovering from the bris.

We see an interest point in repetition in the Torah. Avraham is told upon circumcision that in another year a true heir to his fortune and legacy would be born and that Yishmael would not be the heir to Eretz Canaan but instead a son from Sarah would be the true heir.

Now this week’s Parsha opens with the same theme that Avraham and Sarah would have a son within a year as stated by the angel. On the merit of Avraham, his nephew Lot will be saved.

The Differences Between Noach and Avraham

Noach was more like a Buddha or Gandhi in that he set an example with his behavior and acted properly and publically built the Teva that was 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet high or according to the measurements of the Chazon Ish 150 m x 25 m x 15 m high a meter is close to a 3.33 feet and therefore the measurements would be a bit larger in feet. So the people did have a chance to see his example and the enormous effort that he put into but he was a passive campaigner. He was too passive to move a decadent society to save it.

Avraham was an activist and a reactionary. He would preach and try to convert people at the risk to his life. Go and try to get people to return the concept of ancient times of one G-D. He would preach how idols were false and there was one CREATOR for the world not a bunch of gods one for sun, one for wind, one for moon, one for rain, another for thunder and another for lightning.Avraham did not stand still but campaigned for G-D. He made “Nefeshos” meaning that he took idol worshipers and brought them to HASHEM as if he created them. He brought back people from a decadent society and gave them back morals and place in the next world.

Vayera starts off with the visit by the three Angels and the hospitality of Avraham and ends with the hospitality of Lot and his willingness to protect his guests even if his daughters were to violated. (Unfortunately, this might have made them feel cheap or the lewdness of Sodom had an effect on them.) All this compares to the inhospitable attitude of Sodom itself.

Ethiopian Jewry Part 1

The west did not have real contact with the Flashas and Palishura until around the mid 1800’s. These people practiced a form of Judaism with laws from the time of the first Temple. No tradition of Alexander the Great and Shimon HaTzaddik (Simon the Just). All the rulings of the Great Sanhedrin in early Mishnayic times and onwards were missing. They had Sifrei Torah in Hebrew but not the Aramaic script that we use today but in ancient Hebrew script. They are black in color some have straighter hair and some more kinky in nature. Their noses are closer to Caucasians Jews than the wider black nose and thicker lips. They have African customs, dances, etc. [Similar to the Russian Jews with their culture, the Indian Jews with theirs, the North African and Europeans with theirs.]

They had a hierarchy of Casim who have a pure white garment and it is similar to that perhaps as the Chief Sephardic Rabbi’s special garment. Many of the Jewish laws and customs have been lost in the approximately 2950 years since Shlomo HaMelech. Some of their writings and customs are the same as the Jews of other exiles despite the climate, separation and lack of communication with them. (I had a lot more to write but I have to remember what I read about them and will try in the future to continue.)

Escape from the Death March

Herbert Heller lived in Teplice Sanov, Prague Czech and was a youth when his family was deported to Terezin (aka Terezinstadt). He was a young fellow in school with parents and an older brother when the family was deported. A year or so went by and they were to be moved again. He and his mother were destined to meet Dr. Joseph Mengele by the railroad tracks at Auswitz. His father and brother were deported to different work camps. Towards the end of the war, the infamous death march occurred. Jews were dropping to the right and left of him on the way. He and some others were marching marching onwards towards the west. Along the way, he saw a knapsack left by some Germans with clothing and a knitted cap. He grabbed the objects and covered over his prison rags and shaved head and cried out in German. “Mother, mother where are you?” He was fifteen at the time and pretended to be younger. He boarded a train with German Citizens fleeing the Eastern Front for Prague. His parents had made up to meet at the house of a good Catholic friend. They hid him at a risk to themselves until the Germans were driven out. He then asked them to help search for his family. At one point he was able to go to work. One day he came home and found his mother was at the home of the Catholic family. They never ever saw his father or brother again. He eventually immigrated to Las Angeles and got a job as a stock boy in Macys. He always wanted to be an engineer like his father but with only a grade school education that was out of the question. He was about 16 or 17 when he started working. Gradually he worked his way up to the floors of the store and eventually into purchasing. He was sent my Macys to NY. He found a place to stay and a man there had two extra tickets to a play. The man introduced him to a nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn to go with him to the play. She liked him and so on every trip in from California, they would meet. After about a year and a half they married. That was approximately 1953 and they are still together today. Hebert eventually moved up north to the San Rafael area and with meager savings and his business knowledge opened up a small babies clothing store which one of his daughters still run today. Another daughter is a nurse who volunteers for civil emergencies. A five million person drill was conducted Thursday this week to practice what might be if a major earthquake hit.

Help from HASHEM as the Kollel was about to end

Rav Mimran Shlita and I have been in desperate financial straights to keep the Kollel running. I contributed more than I really could afford but as the new year rolled around, I had given my last donation to keep the day Kollel running. I told my co-Rosh Kollel, “Things look bad, even the right are in financial trouble. It is only a matter of time until we will have to close the Kollel.” The Collapse of the stock market after that did not help us either. I had enough from my pension to keep the less costly night Kollel running on my Maaser Money. The young men were waiting for the scholarship money as Rabbi Mimran found another Rabbi to help pay the costs to keep the Kollel running so now we have Rabbinical Judge Students with scholarships sort of being renewed each month. Since they cannot depend on donors anymore they are dependent on HASHEM.

Lyndon Baines Johnson a friend of Israel from Joey and Aish HaTorah

A few weeks ago, the Associated Press reported that newly released tapes from US president Lyndon Johnson's White House office showed LBJ's "personal and often emotional connection to Israel ." The news agency pointed out that during the Johnson presidency (1963-1969), "the United States became Israel's chief diplomatic ally and primary arms supplier."But the news report does little to reveal the full historical extent of Johnson's actions on behalf of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Most students of the Arab-Israeli conflict can identify Johnson as the president during the 1967 war. But few know about LBJ's actions to rescue hundreds of endangered Jews during the Holocaust -- actions that could have thrown him out of Congress and into jail. Indeed, the title of "Righteous Gentile" is certainly appropriate in the case of the Texan, whose centennial year is being commemorated this year.Historians have revealed that Johnson, while serving as a young congressman in 1938 and 1939, arranged for visas to be supplied to Jews in Warsaw , and oversaw the apparently illegal immigration of hundreds of Jews through the port of Galveston , Texas .A key resource for uncovering LBJ's pro-Jewish activity is the unpublished 1989 doctoral thesis by University of Texas student Louis Gomolak, "Prologue: LBJ's Foreign Affairs Background, 1908-1948." Johnson's activities were confirmed by other historians in interviews with his wife, family members and political associates.LEO FRANK'S LYNCHINGResearch into Johnson's personal history indicates that he inherited his concern for the Jewish people from his family. His aunt Jessie Johnson Hatcher, a major influence on LBJ, was a member of the Zionist Organization of America. According to Gomolak, Aunt Jessie had nurtured LBJ's commitment to befriending Jews for 50 years. As a young boy, Lyndon watched his politically active grandfather "Big Sam" and father "Little Sam" seek clemency for Leo Frank, the Jewish victim of a blood libel in Atlanta. Frank was lynched by a mob in 1915, and the Ku Klux Klan in Texas threatened to kill the Johnsons. The Johnsons later told friends that Lyndon's family hid in their cellar while his father and uncles stood guard with shotguns on their porch in case of KKK attacks. Johnson's speechwriter later stated, "Johnson often cited Leo Frank's lynching as the source of his opposition to both anti-Semitism and isolationism."Already in 1934 -- four years before Chamberlain's Munich sellout to Hitler -- Johnson was keenly alert to the dangers of Nazism and presented a book of essays, Nazism: An Assault on Civilization, to the 21-year-old woman he was courting, Claudia Taylor - later known as "Lady Bird" Johnson. It was an incredible engagement present.Five days after taking office in 1937, LBJ broke with the "Dixiecrats" and supported an immigration bill that would naturalize illegal aliens, mostly Jews from Lithuania and Poland. In 1938, Johnson was told of a young Austrian Jewish musician who was about to be deported from the United States . With an element of subterfuge, LBJ sent him to the US Consulate in Havana to obtain a residency permit. Erich Leinsdorf, the world famous musician and conductor, credited LBJ for saving his life.GET AS MANY JEWS OUTThat same year, LBJ warned a Jewish friend, Jim Novy, that European Jews faced annihilation. "Get as many Jewish people as possible out [of Germany and Poland]," were Johnson's instructions. Somehow, Johnson provided him with a pile of signed immigration papers that were used to get 42 Jews out of Warsaw.But that wasn't enough. According to historian James M. Smallwood, Congressman Johnson used legal and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle "hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. Enough money could buy false passports and fake visas in Cuba , Mexico and other Latin American countries.... Johnson smuggled boatloads and planeloads of Jews into Texas . He hid them in the Texas National Youth Administration... Johnson saved at least four or five hundred Jews, possibly more."During World War II Johnson joined Novy at a small Austin gathering to sell $65,000 in war bonds. According to Gomolak, Novy and Johnson then raised a very "substantial sum for arms for Jewish underground fighters in Palestine." One source cited by the historian reports that "Novy and Johnson had been secretly shipping heavy crates labeled 'Texas Grapefruit' - but containing arms - to Jewish underground 'freedom fighters' in Palestine."On June 4, 1945, Johnson visited Dachau . According to Smallwood, Lady Bird later recalled that when her husband returned home, "he was still shaken, stunned, terrorized and bursting with an overpowering revulsion and incredulous horror at what he had seen."DEFENDER OF ISRAELA decade later while serving in the Senate, Johnson blocked the Eisenhower administration's attempts to apply sanctions against Israel following the 1956 Sinai Campaign. "The indefatigable Johnson had never ceased pressure on the administration," wrote I.L. "Si" Kenen, the head of AIPAC at the time.As Senate majority leader, Johnson consistently blocked the anti-Israel initiatives of his fellow Democrat, William Fulbright, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Among Johnson's closest advisers during this period were several strong pro-Israel advocates, including Benjamin Cohen (who 30 years earlier was the liaison between Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis and Chaim Weizmann) and Abe Fortas, the legendary Washington "insider."Johnson's concern for the Jewish people continued through his presidency. Soon after taking office in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Johnson told an Israeli diplomat, "You have lost a very great friend, but you have found a better one."Just one month after succeeding Kennedy, LBJ attended the December 1963 dedication of the Agudas Achim Synagogue in Austin . Novy opened the ceremony by saying to Johnson, "We can't thank him enough for all those Jews he got out of Germany during the days of Hitler."Lady Bird would later describe the day, according to Gomolak: "Person after person plucked at my sleeve and said, 'I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him. He helped me get out.'" Lady Bird elaborated, "Jews had been woven into the warp and woof of all [Lyndon's] years."1967 WARThe prelude to the 1967 war was a terrifying period for Israel, with the US State Department led by the historically unfriendly Dean Rusk urging an evenhanded policy despite Arab threats and acts of aggression. Johnson held no such illusions. After the war he placed the blame firmly on Egypt: "If a single act of folly was more responsible for this explosion than any other, it was the arbitrary and dangerous announced decision [by Egypt] that the Strait of Tiran would be closed [to Israeli ships and Israeli-bound cargo]."Kennedy was the first president to approve the sale of defensive US weapons to Israel, specifically Hawk anti-aircraft missiles. But Johnson approved tanks and fighter jets, all vital after the 1967 war when France imposed a freeze on sales to Israel.Israel won the 1967 war, and Johnson worked to make sure it also won the peace. "I sure as hell want to be careful and not run out on little Israel," Johnson said in a March 1968 conversation with his ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg, according to White House tapes recently released.Soon after the 1967 war, Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson at the Glassboro Summit why the US supported Israel when there were 80 million Arabs and only three million Israelis. "Because it is right," responded the straight-shooting Texan.The crafting of UN Resolution 242 in November 1967 was done under Johnson's scrutiny. The call for "secure and recognized boundaries" was critical. The American and British drafters of the resolution opposed Israel returning all the territories captured in the war. In September 1968, Johnson explained, "We are not the ones to say where other nations should draw lines between them that will assure each the greatest security. It is clear, however, that a return to the situation of 4 June 1967 will not bring peace. There must be secure and there must be recognized borders. Some such lines must be agreed to by the neighbors involved."Goldberg later noted, "Resolution 242 in no way refers to Jerusalem, and this omission was deliberate." This historic diplomacy was conducted under Johnson's stewardship, as Goldberg related in oral history to the Johnson Library. "I must say for Johnson," Goldberg stated. "He gave me great personal support."Robert David Johnson, a professor of history at Brooklyn College, recently wrote in The New York Sun, "Johnson's policies stemmed more from personal concerns -- his friendship with leading Zionists, his belief that America had a moral obligation to bolster Israeli security and his conception of Israel as a frontier land much like his home state of Texas. His personal concerns led him to intervene when he felt that the State or Defense departments had insufficiently appreciated Israel's diplomatic or military needs."President Johnson firmly pointed American policy in a pro-Israel direction. In a historical context, the American emergency airlift to Israel in 1973, the constant diplomatic support, the economic and military assistance and the strategic bonds between the two countries can all be credited to the seeds planted by LBJ.

*Joey is closing in on 70 but young at heart and being usually the youngest at work, I picked up the nickname Richie 61+ as distinguished from my bosses one was Ricky and the other Richard.

Kashrus Alert unauthorized use of OU symbol on: Maple Grove Cranberry Balsamic Dressing. Effective November 11 2008, Subway Restaurant, located at 28 Water Street, New York, NY, will no longer be certified OU Kosher.The Impossible DreamSometime between 52 to 53 years ago a black Reverend by the name of Martin Luther King came to speak on a Friday Night at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and talk about integration and the right to vote. In those days it was hard to believe that there would be integration on buses and theaters in the south and very few black people made it into College. The year I was born Jackie Robinson became the first black ball player in the history of baseball. Neither did anybody think that a Jew could be a Secretary of State or run for vice president much less a woman. The USA has come a long way since then. It is a time to be proud to be an American. IT ALSO MAKES ME ENVIOUS OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY WHERE 96% OF THE VOTERS CAN VOTE ONE WAY WHILE WE CAN’T GET MORE THAN 87% OF THE JEWS IN ISRAEL TO CELEBRATE THE SEDER. (The other 4% of the black vote are ideological Republicans like Michael Steele, who may become the next chairman of the GOP.) I left out also a governor of Indian descent, a female Jewish governor and 13 Jewish Senators and may house members.

Inyanay Diyoma

The strategy the Islamic regime has charted for the new US president hinges on fanning tensions on Israel’s northern and southern borders while putting a damper on the various Middle East peace initiatives. Syria was therefore discouraged from returning to its indirect peace track with Israel and Hamas ordered to boycott Egypt’s bid to patch up the quarrel between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.Tehran’s object is to show Barack Obama who holds the whip hand in the Middle East and force him to seek urgent talks to defuse rising tensions.At his first news conference as president elect, Obama said Friday, Nov. 7, that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was “unacceptable” and its support for terrorist organizations “must cease.” He ducked a reporter’s question about whether he had read the letter of congratulation sent him by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and when he would answer.But Iran had already laid out its strategy for the incoming president, jumping in the day before the US presidential election.Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Damascus on Nov. 3 with a briefing for Syrian president Bashar Assad. According to our Middle East sources, Mottaki said Tehran would enter into dialogue with the new US president only from a position of political and military strength and did not propose to await Obama’s convenience until he took office in the White House on Jan. 20.Iran’s rulers want to force the new US president to seek them out for a back-door channel of communications, in the same way as Ronald Reagan did while Jimmy Carter was still president to solve the 1980 hostage crisis in Tehran. They plan to make him come to them by raising tensions to crisis level.While avoiding an explicit order to halt the Syrian-Israel talks, Mottaki gave Assad to understand that he must keep Tehran in the picture on their progress and goals. Better they should lead nowhere. This would fit in with Iran’s intention of putting on the table an impressive crisis package including Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians and so force the new US administration to accept the Islamic republic as the prime power in the region.To drive this home, they are stirring the pot wherever they can.DEBKAfile’s Exclusive military sources disclose that Iranian agents, aided by Hizballah, are enlisting Palestinian militias in the big Lebanese Ain Hilwa refugee camp near Sidon and other camps for terrorist missions on Israel’s northern border.The Israeli government has watched what was going on but done nothing. But US military and intelligence were concerned enough to warn Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he had better act fast before his Fatah faction lost Ain Hilwa. This happened shortly before US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice departed for the Middle East Quartet’s Sharm el-Sheikh meeting Sunday, Nov. 9.Abbas reacted by sacking Sultan Abu Al Aynayn, the veteran Fatah chief for all the refugee camps in Lebanon, and appointing the Palestinian general Kemal Midhath in his stead. But our counter-terror sources strongly doubt that the new man can stem the defections of Palestinian militias from Fatah and halt Iran’s and Hizballah’s takeover of the Ain Hilwa camp – especially since, according to the latest US intelligence information, Col. Al Aynayn had already been bought.In Gaza, Israeli forces last week pre-empted in the nick of time a Hamas cross-border kidnap operation by means of a tunnel leading under the border fence. Hizballah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers, the late Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July 2006 triggered a full-scale war with Israel. The tunnel was destroyed but Hamas and Jihad Islami have maintained a four-day missile barrage against Israel.In the diplomatic arena, Saturday, Nov. 8, Hamas suddenly announced a boycott of the oft-postponed Egyptian bid. It had been finally scheduled to take place in Cairo Monday, Nov. 9, to bring Hamas and Fatah together in Cairo for a power-sharing deal to bury the hatchet after three years.This event was also intended to demonstrate to the Middle East Quartet that Egypt was back at center stage in the Middle East and had succeeded in drawing Hamas out of the radical Iranian orbit to embrace Palestinian unity and give the Quartet’s peace effort a major boost.But Tehran was ahead of Cairo. Last Tuesday, Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, were given their orders from the Iranian foreign minister to boycott the Cairo talks. Following his script, a smiling Meshaal told a Sky interviewer: “If the new US president wants a role in the Middle East, he has no choice but to talk to us because we are the real force on the ground.”By Saturday, Nov. 8, therefore, with missiles already flying from Gaza, Tehran had managed to spoil the last Middle East journey to be undertaken by Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, and tip over Egypt’s Palestinian mediation bid and the prospects of Syrian-Israel talks. Still to come is a Lebanese-Israeli border flare-up - for which Tehran has already enlisted Hizballah and Lebanese Palestinian militias.

OLMERT ACTIONS OUTRAGEOUS forwarded with comments by Emanuel A. Winston, a Middle East Analyst & CommentatorAs more of this hideous story emerges about the pogrom against the Federman and the Tor families, I am sickened by a government that can only be compared to the regimes of past tyrants. There is nothing normal about the Olmert government that seems in league with foreign interests and in no way represents the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. In fact, there is every indication that the Government of Kadima has abandoned their role as a Government and has, instead, turned governance over to the Bush-Rice regime for the explicit purpose of completing their vile plan to drive the Jewish citizens of Judea and Samaria.The Olmert-Kadima Government has accepted orders from a foreign government whose ultimate stated goal is to re-partition the Jewish nation of Israel and turn a large section of the Jewish ancestral homeland, pejoratively called "the territories" or "the West Bank" over to the Muslim Arab Palestinians for their new State. The Government of Israel has 'de facto' and 'de jure' given up its slim mandate for the right to continue ruling the nation in any capacity. Perhaps there is no precedent for a government to give up or transfer its authority to another nation - except through conquest as in the case when Germany conquered France and turned part of its sovereignty over to the Vichy - to run the government under control of Hitler's Germany. In the case of Israel's present Government, having chosen to turn her sovereignty over to a foreign government (denials notwithstanding) against the will of her people and her Knesset. The Olmert Government has, indeed, given up her authority and transferred it to a foreign power which may meet the criteria of treason.COMMENTS BY EMANUEL A. WINSTONNow the brave new world order of Israel has added nursing mothers to its list of threats to the safety and continuation of Bolshevik IsraelShlomo Yrachmiel EliasFrom: Robin Ticker Subject: BREAKING NEWS! ELISHEVA FEDERMAN ARRESTED - CAN NOT NURSE HER BABYbs"dI just spoke to Marta Ramati, Elisheva's mother a few moments ago. She confirmed that Elisheva is arrested and was not allowed to nurse her baby. Also a few days ago, Tamar Edelstein interviewed Elisheva Federman for her radio show on Shleimus Haaretz and Elisheva said that they twisted the arm of her baby at the time of the expulsion from her home. I asked Tamar, who also spoke with Marta this morning and called me about it, what the charges were against Elisheva and Tamar said that she thinks it's because Elisheva kicked a police officer when they came in the middle of the night and beat up and arrested her husband and assaulted her and her kids and destroyed their home. ( Whether or not this allegation is true, personally, if it is true, didn't he deserve a kick?) THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!Marta said that it the opinion of many that it's just a matter of time but they will also evict the residents of Beit Hashalom either forcefully like the Federman's home or use the excuse that it's too dangerous for them and then close it off as a military area.-

Editorial: A Good Time to Blame the Kikes, Hebes, Jews followed by Emanuel Winston’s Commentary

My friend Jerry pointed out to me that the Republicans especially this Administration does not have too many Jews with them. Jerry is a Democrat but his point about getting the Lehman Brothers and letting them go under actually cost the taxpayers billions. Lehman Brothers needed a relative to the damage in the wake of them going under was a small loan of perhaps $3 billion for liquid assets. They went under and their guarantor AIG needed another $40 billion to underwrite guarantees that they had on Lehman Brothers. There was a tinge of anti-semitism in the air. The immediate result of the Lehman Brothers implosion was what happened to the stock market from Sept. 15th to Oct. 31st. The bond market collapsed too at this time.

The Jews of Prague were purged from the city by Maria Theresa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_AustriaImmediately the economy of Prague suffered and the Gentile Merchants partitioned the Queen to let the Jews back and of course at the price of fine. G-D took care of Maria, her daughter was queen of France and lost her head during the French Revolution. Two children died in childhood, one was stillborn and four children died of smallpox which also deformed her and the topping of them all while in Saltzburg her husband died during the wedding feast of her son. HASHEM has these subtle ways of reminding people who trouble the Jews.

As you well know I have little personal empathy for the way Rubashkin took over the meat industry in the States and forced out the competitors and may Jewish Shochtim out of jobs. However, the attempt to fine him $10 million dollars seems cruel and unusual punishment under the US Constitution. It appears to be anti-semitism at its best. After all somebody went around blaming the Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs for the economic trouble rather than George Bush’s deficit spending and lack of proper regulations and guidelines.

The whole credit card industry and debit and wild loan policy was not brought on by the Jews but the blame is being put on Jewish Names. Emanuel Winston also comments on the Pogrom Atmosphere in Washington.

THE "GET THE JEWS" POGROM by Emanuel A. Winston, a Middle East Analyst & CommentatorI have been following the seemingly isolated Federal attack on the Rubashkin Jewish Kosher meat plant in Postville, Iowa.(1) From the first, my antennae detected something like an arranged agenda over the Feds' zealousness. Long before a Kosher Meat processing plant in Iowa was 'allegedly' employing illegal aliens with false documents, 12 to 20 million illegal aliens were working in major plants and fields across America. They were not raided with the accompanying trial-by-Media as were the Rubashkin owners. But, this seemed to be "Jew-time" for the Feds. At first, it appeared to be a minor affair, with agreed corrective action to be undertaken to solve the complaints. Most people who paid attention to this already knew that the Unions initiated the Feds' extreme actions, not because illegal aliens were present but, because management did not allow the Unions to press all the workers into Union control. We have heard that the workers received higher wages and better benefits than they would under Union control. For other reasons, however, the Federal Government saw this as an opportunity, not so much to correct broken laws but, a "Get the Jews" action - with a purpose of intimidating American and Israeli Jews.Having written about other "Get the Jews" doctrine for over 35 years, the Postville raid followed a certain pattern. For many examples, read the book by John Loftus, "The Secret War Against the Jews: How the Jews Were Betrayed by Western Espionage, 1920-1992" (2). This well-researched book speaks about the "Jew Room" initiated by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and maintained by various branches of U.S. Intelligence. This was not a friendly gathering place, but rather something that resembled Heydrich's Wannsee Conference of Nazi high officials to decide their "Final Solution to Their Jewish Problem". Many in various other governments shared Hitler's philosophy during WW2.I will not outline those years but, the Postville raid and subsequent Media frenzy reminded me of the extreme hostility against the Jewish people and, especially, against Israel. Keep in mind the anti-Israel agenda which started in earnest when the State Department was unable to stop the United Nations from voting Israel into existence - which infuriated the Muslim Arab oil countries and multi-national oil companies who were important to State for their oil and money! Harassing and subverting Israel, in deference to the Muslim Arabs became a permanent part of the State Department's inner agenda. Secretaries of State like James Baker III could better explain their role in harassing Israel.My mind reviewed such other events, as when then Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Admiral Bobby Ray Inman used their positions to block any interchange of Intelligence of vital information that would affect Israel and/or America. Such sharing of intelligence was approved American policy in MOUs (Memorandums of Understanding), signed by several Presidents. Yet, Weinberger, on his own, cut off such exchanges and acted to cover-up efforts by Arab Muslim countries to build unconventional weapons of mass destruction such as poison gas to be aimed against Israel. Again, keep in mind, IF American Arabists were to succeed in their program to eliminate Israel in order to appease the Arabs, a number of things had to be accomplished: A cut-off of intelligence about what the Arab Muslims were planning and what weapons they had to use against Israel was crucial. This would include the types of weapons they were purchasing and building - especially what are called WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction), namely, NBC (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical). Parallel to blinding the Israelis to that information was a much large "Black Operation" - that of demonizing the Israelis and American Jews in the minds of the American people who supported Israel. The purpose was that, when the time came to divide up Israel into conquerable pieces, the American public and American Congress would remain passive and not protest. As you read on, I will remind you of some incidents designed to shape the thoughts of the American people against Israel and the accompanying process to silence American Jewry. (Let's continue.)Secretary of Defence Caspar Weinberger was eventually fired when he countermanded President Ronald Reagan's order for a U.S. battleship in the Mediterranean to shell Syria after they acted as enablers in the Terrorist Truck bomb against the Marine barracks, killing 242 American Marines 25 years ago. Caspar Weinberger hated Jews and especially the Jewish State of Israel. Weinberger did not operate on his own but had many collaborators - especially among the Arabists in the State Department.Syria, you may recall was a lead player for the Arab Muslim world dedicated to destroying Israel and had to be protected at all costs - even when they killed Americans. The number and frequency of Secretaries of State, representing the State Department, who visited Syria's Hafez al Assad was astonishing. No terrorist action, directly or indirectly, conducted by Syria's long-reaching Intelligence Services, were never truly punished because they had protectors in the highest offices in Washington. That continues to this day.Another event comes to mind that resonates in the "Get the Jews" doctrine.Condoleezza Rice, then National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, convinced Bush to go along with the FBI sting operation against AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee).(3) Their objective was to accuse and try this Jewish organization in the Media. The ensuing publicity was to get control of AIPAC and reduce its ability to lobby Congress on behalf of Israel and against the plans of the Arab Muslims. Condoleezza Rice, similarly to Weinberger's motives and actions, seemed to demonstrate a strong dislike for the Jewish State's sovereignty and rights as a State to decide her own borders and capital. Rice evinces a strong pro-Arab bias. Some will recall that she was on the Board of the Chevron Oil Company and was decidedly pro-Oil, along with the Bush Dynasty and James Baker III. Therefore, intimidating AIPAC would also intimidate the Government of Israel and the American Jews to remain silent, whenever Rice demanded capitulation by Israel. She and State didn't want 'cooperation'; they demanded 'obedience'. Jews have a history of being intimidated as a minority in Europe, by the Church, by Hitler, by Stalin, by the Muslim countries' dictators where they lived for hundreds of years. Jews have every reason in history to be suspicious and frightened by Government interventions in their lives. It was NOT supposed to happen in America but, it did. Sometimes in big ways and sometimes in small operations like Postville.After the first high profile raid on the Postville Kosher, the Feds pulled out all stops to insure it was prominently featured in the flag-ship journals - like the New York Times.(2) A few minor 'balancing' raids here and there were intended to make it seem like the Jews were not being especially targeted - although they were.With an illegal alien population between 12-20 million working with forged documents, it is likely they would be found in almost every labor-intensive business in America. But, it would not look good to raid Swift, Hormel, General Foods and the dozens - if not hundreds - of animal slaughtering plants - especially those owned and controlled by Muslims to produce Hallel meats (similar to Kosher but for Muslims).By arresting the Orthodox Jewish plant owners with threats of long prison sentences, repeatedly trumpeted in the Media - the Feds were not only in a "Get the Jews" mode but, they were sending a nasty message to the larger Jewish community to shut up and go along. (And here's where the Yiddish phrase ordering Jews to "Sha! Shtill!" comes into vogue.) So, the Jews are supposed to 'shut up and go along' with whatever Bush and Rice were planning to do to Israel. That includes driving the Jews out of Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, the Golan Heights, and those parts of Jerusalem occupied and desecrated by Jordan for 19 years from 1948 to 1967. That would force Israel to leave the vital defense posts on the Golan Heights and the mountains of Judea and Samaria which oversee the security and sovereignty of all Israel.One could assume that Barack Obama, as America's new President, will follow this policy of intimidation in order to please the Islamic oil-rich nations. One day after Obama's election, that is on November 5th, Obama sent his key advisor Robert Malley to Cairo where he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and to Damascus, where he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Malley was to relay the messages that relations with Egypt would be enhanced (with more military and civilian aid and advanced F-16 fighter jets to be sold to Cairo) and Obama would attempt to reconcile differences with Syria, reversing the policy of President Bush, who regards Syria as a leading supporter of insurgency in Iraq. (4)The Jew-Trap for AIPAC troubled the entire Media community who relied on leaks to expose wrong doings by the Government establishment. We all remember Water-Gate and Iran/Contra. Strangely, the U.S. State Department, Pentagon and the 16 American Intel Agencies also used 'leaks' to delicately pass information to foreign governments outside of conventional channels. IF the AIPAC Jew Trap worked, when the Rice and FBI set-up AIPAC 'sting' went to court, then the entire back channel message route would jeopardize all investigative journalists and open them to criminal prosecution. It would also stop whistle-blowers inside the government from exposing wrong-doing.In the case of AIPAC, they set up AIPAC as a target so Rice could use a normal and commonly used interchange of an informational back channel as a stick to beat AIPAC and Israel - to force Israel to obey her and the State Department demands in order to appease the Arab Muslim oil-rich nations. Rice just visited Jerusalem again, to work out a seamless transfer of her plan to re-partition Israel over to the incoming Obama administration. It has been reported that Condi Rice's hostility stemmed both from State Department policy and from her youth when Southern White radicals bombed black churches, including one in Birmingham where 4 young black girls (one a friend of Condi Rice) were murdered. C. Rice transposed her hatred of the perpetrating white bigots onto the white Jewish Israelis and adopted the Muslim Arab Palestinians as 'her' oppressed Blacks. That seems to be the root cause of her zealous bias.C. Rice not only represented State Department anti-Israeli doctrine but her own bias. Although Jews were not involved in Ku Klux Klan and White Supremicists movements but were themselves often their targets. Note the "Freedom Summer" massacre when Andrew Goodman, a 20 year old white Jewish student, Michael Schwerner, a 24 year old white Jewish CORE organizer both from New and James Chaney, a 21 year old black man from Meridian, Mississippi were shot, June 21, 1964 for helping Mississippi blacks. (2) The film "MIssissippi Burning" memorializes these events and shows the white Klan in their full responsibility for these murders. To Rice and most black leaders, their sacrifice was irrelevant and, thus, the taught attitude of blacks to blame the Jews for their poverty. As Rice grew to maturity and a high position, her rage against whites could not be vented against the white establishment in which she worked, so in a twisted way, she equated Palestinian Terrorists with the oppressed blacks of her childhood. The AIPAC sting involved Larry Franklin (not Jewish) from the US Defense Department, telling 2 AIPAC staffers, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, that Iran was building nuclear weapons - while allegedly wearing an FBI wire. That was supposed to be a concealed secret??? Come on. Who would benefit besides Iran? Israel could lose her whole country as well as millions of Jews and Arabs. Iran could target Europe and/or America. I think Franklin did the right thing for the right reasons. Was he set-up? Was AIPAC set-up? It sure looks like it.So Israel and the Jews became Rice's surrogate target. Setting up the AIPAC sting fed her hatred to get even with the whites who had killed her friends. That 'set-up' allowed her another club with which to beat AIPAC, Israel, and the American Jews. Congress was not to be lobbied for Israel and American Jewry was to be frightened into silence.I cannot help but wonder if, in the AIPAC case, powerful Washington individuals, like James Baker III, C. Rice, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, William P. Rogers, Henry Kissinger - among other high ranking diplomats and directors of the 16 American Intel Agencies also used back channel leaks to Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Russia and China - knowing they were illegally by-passing the Intelligence Transfer Act. That illegal transfer would be particularly odious if their intent was to compromise Israel's defenses. All of this must come out in open court unless they use the National Security dodge as was done in Iran-Contra.There is much more to this issue but, this provides some background as to why the Feds went after the Kosher meat plant owned by the Rubashkins with such media over-kill. Mr. Sholom Rubaskin is the highest-ranking executive to face arrest in stepped-up immigration raids. Why did they arrest him in handcuffs - with pictures for the Media? He wasn't a flight risk. Mr. Rubashkin and his father, both Lubavitch Hasidic Jews, built Agriprocessors into a kosher giant. They brought prosperity to the little town of Postville. Kosher consumers have faced meat shortages since the raid.While the Postville raid may seem a small matter, think of it as another piece of the puzzle, designed in the "Jew Room" of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, to silence the Jews of America and Israel when full-bore attacks are mounted against Israel. (See a following article which speaks about the coming "full-bore attack", entitled "Shimon Peres Tells Us We Are Closer to Peace"). Strangely, Rice knew she could expect the usual defensive Jewish reaction when a Government attacked a Jew or a Jewish organization. In fear, taught by centuries of bias, hatred, confiscation, murder, etc... they would also adopt the 'Government' side and join in the attack to show how 'clean' they were of any wrong-doing. In this case, establishment Jews, most of whom do NOT keep Kosher, attacked the Kosher plant for not having been Kosher enough. Their umbrage was: How dare they hire illegal aliens? How dare they NOT allow the Unions to take over the workforce - despite the fact that the workers actually had wages and benefits that exceeded Union levels? This major fact has been covered-up in this case, especially by trying the Rubashkins in the compliant Media. We Jews are well known to rush to the causes of all others but - NOT our own. I suppose we think we will be better liked when we ignore our own people and our own rights. When the Jewish community succeeded in helping American Blacks achieve their rights, some Black leaders turned on the Jews in vicious hostility, while many adopted Islam whose Koranic credo maintained that Blacks were only fit for slavery.This was what Rice and other anti-Semites in government counted on in Israel and America. They recruited the Leftist Israeli government officials, like Olmert and Peres, who would stand for Palestinian rights - even as they launched Rockets and Missiles, suicide bombed, shot, stabbed Jews and worked closely with Terrorist nations like Iran and Syria. Even if it meant their own families could be murdered by Palestinian Terrorists, they would opt to abandon vital defensive land, knowing it would be used as a fire base against the Jewish population. Thus, Olmert, Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and his other Leftists were easy recruits in their intended crippling of the Jewish nation. The pro-Arab State Department has studied Jews for years and know how we respond to fear.The Rubashkin Sting, that of invading the Kosher meat plant and how it would play in the Jewish community was anticipated, in synergy with other attacks - with more now in formation. Jews not only quickly assumed guilt and blame but, then they themselves attacked their fellow Jews. It seemed a comparatively small event but, when added to the AIPAC sting, among many other Goebbels'-like accusations, then it assumes a greater significance. The question is: Will these attacks on the American Jewish psyche assist their planning when Bush, Rice, Baker and Zbigniew Brzezinski - and perhaps Obama move to force the Israeli Leftists to commit national suicide? Do they plan for the American Jews at that time to be paralyzed with fear and unable to protest? None of this happened in a vacuum. "Getting the Jews" and appeasing the Muslim Arab oil States is an on-going program, likely to be picked up and increased by the new President Barack Obama and his selected advisors, some of whom have a well-documented record of hostility to Israel. Clearly, I see that the ghost of Cap Weinberger is in some way alive and well, as he hovers over his "Get the Jews" machinations. Remember that Weinberger's most egregious manipulation was the arrest - with full media coverage - and the 'in camera' trials of Jonathan and Anne Pollard. To review our extensive articles on this issue, please Google "Jonathan Pollard" by "Emanuel Winston". Important issues covered: "Injustice to" and "Lies about Jonathan Pollard"; "Warning of Iraq's WMD, including NBC to attack Israel"; "Shadow Government"; "the Jew-Room"; "How Ehud Barak abandoned Pollard in November 1985"; and more. You may see more than you could ever read - at least 3,690 items. (5)###

1. "After Raid, Federal Charges for Ex-C.E.O. at Meatpacker" New York Times 10/31/08

2. "THE SECRET WAR AGAINST THE JEWS: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People - 1920-1992" by John Loftus & Mark Aarons St. Martin's Press NY 1994 pp. 1933. "Lawrence Franklin Espionage Scandal" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Weissman

Ram in Hebrew means Thunder (another meaning is lofty, high when talking about HASHEM) – he was named after a fighter named Rachamim who died fighting the Arabs and his uncle Emanuel who was also killed by the Arabs and the name adopted bythe family. Barak means Lightning and he is going to be the president and that is why there will be thunder and lightning in the white house as the new administration starts.

Ram has a record: He is the one who arranged the famous handshake between Rabin and Arafat and was very involved in the Oslo agreement.

On one day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, there were 30 Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers and border police officers on the West Bank, leaving four injured, including two policemen and an army platoon commander, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. The security situation plummeted from last month when, after men of the Lavi Brigade shot dead three Palestinian assailants who were hurling fire bombs, Israel units were prohibited from posting snipers to defend them against Palestinian firebomb ambuscades.The prohibition came down from the office of prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Ehud Barak. It was quickly picked up by the Palestinians who, realizing that the IDF’s hands were tied, became more audacious. By Tuesday, it had reached the point, said senior military sources, that the OC Central Command, Brig. Gadi Shamni, no longer controls security in Judea and Samaria. Marauding Palestinians have seized the hilltops commanding the territory’s main highways and intersections and bombard every passing Israeli car, including military and police vehicles, with firebombs, burning tires and big rocks. Shortage of manpower prevents the army from taking those hilltops over; its function has been reduced to patrols.Tuesday, Palestinian terror peaked. They hurled firebombs and rocks at two border police bases in Abu Dis in southern Jerusalem and Atarot at the northern end of the capital and hit four IDF patrols. At Tekoa, southeast of Bethlehem, flying rocks pinned down a military force for hours until it was relieved by reinforcements. Rocks and bottle bombs hit at least 14 passing cars, seriously damaging some of them. Rioting Palestinians in Hebron and its vicinity hurled six firebombs, blocked main junctions with burning tires and set fire to a Jewish-owned wheat-field.Security sources told DEBKAfile that if this goes on and the government sticks to its policy of non-response, there is nothing to stop the Palestinian gangs from moving on to firearms.The US-trained Palestinian security forces, whose presence Israel accepted, keep to the main towns of Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah and Qalqilya and do not venture outside. Palestinian terrorists have therefore won the freedom to terrorize most parts of the West Bank safe from Palestinian or Israel interference.Sinai Bedouin in armed revolt against Egypt, snatch general maybe they will wake up that control is needed Olmert and Barak obvious are Zombies. A female Egyptian lawyer has recommended that Arab men begin sexually harassing Jewish women as a means of forcing Jews to leave Israel.

Nir Biraket was elected the mayor of Yerushalayim. He had the backing of Shass, Degel HaTorah and the National Union Party (National Religious) against the Chassidic Porush.

Now for M. Wolfberg's "The Cutting Edge"

Good Shabbos Everyone. The following story was told by Rabbi Yisroel Spira, the Rebbe of Bluzhov, who witnessed it in the Janowska Concentration Camp: Each morning at dawn, the Germans would lead us out of the camp for a day of hard labor that ended only at nightfall. Each pair of workers was given a huge saw and expected to cut its quota of logs. Because of the horrendous conditions in the camp and the starvation rations on which we were supposed to subsist, most of us could barely stand on our feet. But we sawed away, knowing that our lives depended upon it; anyone collapsing on the job or failing to meet his daily quota was killed on the spot, Hashem forbid. One day, as I pulled and pushed the heavy saw with my partner, I was approached by a young woman from our work detail. The pallor of her face showed her to be in an extremely weak physical state. "Rebbe," she whispered to me, "do you have a knife?" I immediately understood her intention and felt the great responsibility that rested upon me. "My daughter," I begged, concentrating all the love and conviction in my heart in the effort to dissuade her from her intended deed. "Do not take your own life. I know that your life is now a living hell, from which death seems a blessed release. But we must never lose hope. With Hashem's help, we will survive this ordeal and see better days." But the woman seemed oblivious to my words. "A knife," she repeated. "I must have a knife. Now. Before it is too late." At that moment, one of the German guards noticed our whispered conversation and approached us. "What did she say to you?" He demanded of me. We both froze. Conversing during work was a grave transgression. Many a camp inmate had been shot on the spot for far lesser crimes. The woman was first to recover. "I asked him for a knife," she said. To my horror, she then addressed her request to the guard: "Give me a knife!" The German, too, guessed her intention, and a devilish smile flickered on his lips. Doubtless he had seen the bodies of those who, out of desperation, threw themselves during the night on the electrified fence that surrounded the camp; but this would be a novel sight for him. Still smiling, he reached into his pocket and handed her a small knife. Taking the knife, she hurried back to her work station and bent over a small bundle of rags that she had placed on a log. Quickly unraveling the bundle, she took out a tiny infant. Before our astonished eyes, she swiftly and skillfully circumcised the week-old boy. "Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the Universe," she recited in a clear voice, "Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to enter him into the covenant of Avroham our Father." Cradling the child in her arms, she soothed his cries. Then, she addressed the heavens: "Master of the Universe! Eight days ago you gave me a child. I know that neither I nor he will long survive in this accursed place. But now, when you take him back, you will receive him as a complete Jew." "Here is your knife," she said, handing the holy object back to the German. "Thank you." In this week's parsha, we read about the after-effects of the mesirus nefesh - the self sacrifice of Avrohom Avinu who circumcised himself at the age of 99. Jews throughout the centuries have showed tremendous self sacrifice for the mitzvah of bris milah. Unfortunately in America many children are "circumcised" in the hospital soon after they are born, rather than on the eighth day as prescribed by halacha. Therefore, and due to other reasons, a bris milah done in the hospital is most likely not a kosher bris. Thus, there are sadly hundreds of thousands of Jews in America who are technically uncircumcised. Thankfully, there is a relatively simple way to fix a non-kosher bris. (Anyone reading these words who is interested in more information on this topic may contact us.) Through fulfilling the mitzvah of bris milah properly, a Jew officially becomes a member of Avrohom Avinu's family! Good Shabbos Everyone.